Name: Crispy Arbi Roast
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 90 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 300 g Colocasia Roots, Arbi, boiled (80% done), peeled, and cut into round discs; 1 tsp Carom Seeds, ajwain, essential for digestion and flavor; 2 Green Chili Pepper, finely chopped; 1 tsp Ginger, grated; ¼ tsp Ground Turmeric; 1 tsp Red Chilli Powder; 1 tsp Ground Coriander; 1 tsp Dried Mango Powder, amchur; ½ tsp Garam Masala; 2½ tbsp Cooking Oil, mustard oil yields best results; 1 tsp Salt, to taste; 1 tbsp Coriander Leaves, chopped

1 hr 30 mintotal

30 min hands-on1 hr hands-off

Prep 15 min · Cook 15 min

Serves: 2
Difficulty: Medium
Spice: Medium

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Method

Press the boiled, peeled arbi discs gently between your palms to flatten them a little. That gives more surface for the hot oil to work on, which is what makes them properly crisp.
Pour the mustard oil into a wide, heavy-bottomed skillet or flat tawa, heating it until smoke erupts from the surface. Retract the heat slightly to temper the fat.
Arrange the flattened arbi discs directly in the oil, strictly maintaining a single, uncrowded layer. Pan-roast them on medium heat without any agitation for 4-5 minutes, allowing the underside to fry into a shatteringly crisp, dark golden-brown state.
4–5 min
Turn each disc over carefully and fry the other side the same way. Once they are firm and crisp all over, push them out to the cooler edge of the pan.
Into the oil left in the middle of the pan, add the ajwain seeds and let them splutter.
Introduce the grated ginger and the sharply chopped green chillies into the center. Sauté the aromatics fiercely for 30 seconds.
30 sec
Reduce the flame to its absolute minimum. Evenly broadcast the turmeric, red chilli powder, coriander powder, amchur, garam masala, and salt comprehensively over the resting arbi.
Gently toss the entire pan to pull the central spiced oil over the arbi discs, coating them completely while preserving their brittle crusts. Roast this final assembly for 2 minutes to cook off the raw edge of the ground spices.
2 min
Finish heavily with fresh coriander and serve straight from the skillet.

How to tell it's done

Absolute absence of moisture. The roots must sport an unyielding, crackling, heavily crusted spice shell that abruptly gives way to a dense, starchy, buttery potato-like core.

Getting it right

Tip

Arbi is dense and a little slimy inside. A generous tempering of carom seeds (ajwain) is traditional with it, and it cuts through the heaviness as well as adding flavour.

What to serve it with

This crisp sabzi goes very well with a plain yellow dal, rice and hot chapatis.

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